McLaren Group proud to sponsor the 2015 Telegraph STEM Awards

Grand prize of £25,000 to be awarded to one winner from finalists in five categories

McLaren Group is a sponsor of the STEM Awards 2015 Automotive challenge

Launch of the 2015 campaign coincides with McLaren’s ‘Skills Week’

McLaren Group is once again proud to be a sponsor of the 2015 Telegraph STEM Awards. Now in its second year, the awards aim to inspire undergraduates to play their part in securing the country’s future as a leader in science, technology, engineering and maths.

The inaugural STEM Awards, which took place earlier this year, were set up as a unique opportunity for talented STEM undergraduates to present their ideas to some of the most influential companies across five different industry sectors – Automotive, Technology, Energy, Pharmaceutical and Design in the Built Environment.

For the 2015 STEM Awards, one overall winner selected from the five category finalists will receive the grand prize of £25,000 and a bespoke mentoring programme.

As sponsor of the automotive category, McLaren Group has asked students to submit their ideas on how the next generation of race and road cars will generate power, while both maintaining high performance and reducing emissions.

Entrants can take part alone or as part of a team and must develop the most creative, innovative and fine-tuned idea in order impress the judges to stand a chance of becoming a finalist. After the closing date of March 15th 2015, McLaren’s team of judges will shortlist the five most impressive entries from the Automotive category, who will be invited to McLaren Technology Centre to present their ideas in person. One finalist from each category will be selected to present to a panel of three expert, independent judges at the final round in London. The overall winner of the £25,000 prize will be announced at the Telegraph STEM Awards ceremony in June 2015.

The launch of McLaren’s involvement in the 2015 Telegraph STEM Awards campaign coincides with McLaren’s ‘Skills Week’, which runs until Friday 14th November. ‘Skills Week’ sees a variety of interesting social media activity and digital content designed to showcase the UK’s success via the engineering sector, and highlight the importance of appealing to young people in order to promote STEM subjects as a gateway to a diverse, rewarding career path that is crucial to the growth of the UK businesses.

Richard Farquhar, Head of Powertrain, McLaren Automotive, said: “We are delighted to once again lend our support to the Telegraph’s 2015 STEM Awards. Inspiring young people to develop their skills in STEM subjects is a personal passion of mine and something that is very important to McLaren. As a company we promote a number of initiatives – including the Government’s See Inside Manufacturing campaign – to encourage young people to consider STEM subjects, and raise awareness that work in this sector is not only a rewarding career choice, but also the lifeblood of the UK engineering base and essential for a successful future economy.

“We look forward to viewing the submissions for the 2015 STEM Awards, and we hope this competition will inspire the next generation of budding engineers, who may become the leading engineering minds within McLaren Automotive, McLaren Racing or McLaren Applied Technologies in the years to come.”

More information on the automotive challenge set by McLaren, plus application forms for entry into the 2015 STEM awards can be found on the Telegraph STEM Awards website, which features articles and information from contributors across the entire McLaren Group - McLaren Automotive, McLaren Applied Technologies, and McLaren Racing. You can also follow McLaren’s involvement in the 2015 Telegraph STEM Awards via twitter @McLarenGroup.